During a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience featuring guest Jeff Ross, Joe Rogan spoke out against the public release of footage from Justin Timberlake‘s DUI arrest, framing it as a form of unnecessary public humiliation of a celebrity who did nothing extraordinary to warrant the attention.
Ross first raised the issue, making it clear that the situation bothered him. “Freaking Timberlake this weekend. That really pissed me off. They released a two- or three-year-old video of him getting a DUI,” he said.
He then questioned both the legality and the purpose of making arrest footage publicly accessible. “Why does that need to be out there?” he asked.
Rogan agreed, saying he struggled to understand how such footage becomes public in the first place. “How is that a legal thing to take, like, a video of someone being arrested?” he said. “Because he’s a public figure, why isn’t that private? I don’t understand.”
According to Rogan, nothing in the footage justified the level of attention it received. “There was nothing outrageous about it,” he said. “He was very calm and relaxed. They arrested him for DUI, asked him a few questions. There was nothing about it like, ‘Oh, look at Justin Timberlake. He’s off the rails. He’s acting crazy.’”
He summarized his view of the situation in simple terms. “He had a few drinks. Probably shouldn’t have driven, got caught. That’s it,” Rogan said.
Ross echoed that sentiment, noting how common such incidents are. “It happens to a lot of people,” he said.
Rogan also pushed back against the public reaction that followed the video’s release, arguing that people were eager to judge. “He wasn’t acting like an a**hole. He didn’t do anything terrible,” he said. “Everybody wants, like, ‘Oh, look at him. He got caught. You have so much money and you still got caught.’”
Turning back to the decision to release the footage at all, Ross expressed frustration with what he saw as unnecessary punishment. “I don’t get having to tortu re somebody by releasing the videos,” he said.
Rogan questioned the legal rationale behind making such material public. “Why is it okay to release that? Why is that a public record thing?” he asked. “Even if there’s a case, that should be something that gets released in court.”
When Ross confirmed that the video had been released as public information, Rogan responded bluntly. “Why? Because he sings?” he asked.
Ross offered his own explanation for the phenomenon. “Because we live in a cruel world. That’s why,” he said.
Rogan expanded on that idea, suggesting that public fascination with celebrity missteps often comes from resentment or envy. “We live in a place where people enjoy cruelty,” he said. “You look at him, he’s super famous, married to Jessica Biel. Beautiful woman. He’s got this perfect life. He’s rich. He’s famous. He can dance. He can sing. He’s tall. He’s handsome. He’s a star when he was young.”
He then delivered a pointed message to those who mocked Timberlake over the incident. “You’ve been dru nk before, too. Shut the f**k up,” Rogan said. “And if you haven’t, f**k you, unless, like, your dad was an alcoholic and you understand the circumstances.”
Rogan ultimately concluded that the video itself offered little of substance. “I saw it, it came across my news feed, and I looked at it for a few seconds,” he said. “There’s nothing outrageous about this.”
